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SpunOut.ie Blog
Representing SpunOut.ie
Hello I'm Jessica McArdle and I'm a Spunout youth editor!
Gosh that was hard to get off my chest; it’s like AA all over again! I recently spoke at the Console Suicide awareness conference on behalf of, and with other, SpunOut.ie contributors. I have to say that the thought of speaking at such a conference was a bit daunting but at the same time I was looking forward to meeting all the crew who I’d been emailing for the previous two months. I hoped that I could find some words to say that would make an impact on the people in the room- not least the families who had suffered losses.
Thankfully it was a real team effort, which meant that nobody felt under too much pressure. The Spunout crew are great too; Ruairi is a real life Peter Pan, which would make Anna Wendy and despite the sadness of the subject at hand we managed to have a good time meeting up.
Speaking at a conference such as that was extremely empowering, and that’s not a word I use often, it really was great to feel as though I was doing something to help instead of deafly ignoring the statistics and worrying. At a certain point I think that we all become desensitised to the stories on the news regarding suicide, binge drinking and drug taking and often see it as a problem too big to solve, too distant from our lives or too close to home to imagine dealing with. But be it speaking out at a conference or seeking help for yourself or loved ones it’s all about talking and the more we get our voices heard the better for the youth of tomorrow.
You don’t have to be a do-gooder, or hippy-type (though both are welcome) to get involved so get writing, send your photos and speak out- who knows you may even enjoy yourself in the process…
Looking forward to seeing you soon - Jessica
By: Jessica McArdle, SpunOut.ie Youth Editor
